A man from Massachusetts who unexpectedly woke up unable to breathe was shocked when doctors told him that he had swallowed his airpod.
A man swallowed wireless headphones while asleep
On Tuesday, after he was left deep throating while trying to drink a glass of water after waking up, Brad Gauthier, 38, from Worcester, Massachusetts, went to the hospital.
His X-rays showed that in his esophagus, one of his wireless Apple headphones had been wedged.
In order not to wake up his six-month-old daughter Avianna, with what he was listening to, the Massachusetts man had gone to sleep with his airpod and had swallowed it somehow without waking up during the night, as per the Mirror.
The following day, the blockage forced Gauthier's throat to fill up with water when he tried to drink, which made him feel as if he was choking, Daily Mail reported.
Despite the odd feeling in his chest, he was able to get the water out by bending over and started his day, as usual, clearing his driveway at night, which got covered with snow after a heavy blizzard.
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During the day, Gauthier realized that one of his airpods was missing. When his family helped him look for it, they joked that maybe he had eaten it because he had a sore chest.
"My wife mentioned it when I came in and we laughed about it, but something just clicked and I got a weird sinking feeling that I'd swallowed it in my sleep," he said.
"At that moment, I thought about it for another 10 minutes, but we all decided it'd be better than sorry to go to the hospital," Brad added.
He endured nothing more than slight pain, Gauthier said, and continued with his day as usual. "The GI physician said it's extremely uncommon for a blockage not to be painful or discomforting. It never occurred to me that sleeping with headphones could be a potential hazard. I was really quite lucky," he said.
To get an x-ray, Gauthier went to a doctor, only to discover the missing object in his esophagus. He underwent an emergency endoscopy to have it removed, as per the IBT.
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Massachusetts man found one of his missing airpods via x-ray
Hospital workers had first announced that the food the night before from Gauthier's wife Heather's birthday party could be the cause of his pain, but x-rays quickly discovered the real reason.
The 38-year-old claimed that when he went to bed with them, the airpod somehow got into his mouth when he was unconscious. However, he was fortunate that the location where the airpod got stuck had prevented him from further harmful effects.
Through endoscopy, the airpod was removed, but not without complications. Although physicians were confident of the results, the Massachusetts man was warned that there was a risk of dislodging the system and entering his stomach or lung passageway.
Fortunately, the procedure was a success, and soon afterward, Gauthier was able to get a meal and even return home to work.
Gauthier thanked workers for their contributions but joked that while the recovered headphone still operated, its microphone feature was broken due to its unexpected trip.
